원자력연구개발기금에 대한 고찰

Despite the rapidly changing environment surrounding nuclear power, with a noticeable and growing emphasis on the role of nuclear power in achieving carbon neutrality both domestically and internationally, the calculation method and rate of the Nuclear R&D Fund have remained unchanged for over 25 years since the fund's establishment in 1997. The rule stipulates that the reactor operator bears 1.2 KRW per 1 kWh from nuclear power. Nuclear R&D investment in Korea comprises the Nuclear R&D Fund and government contributions. Government contributions are ultimately determined through a budget review conducted by the National Assembly. Unfortunately, in Korea, nuclear power is significantly exposed to political risks, with the National Assembly recently using its authority to review the budget as a tool for political maneuvering by making a full cut of the entire nuclear budget proposed by the Administration. This paper reviews the Nuclear R&D Fund concerning the rate level, the relevant entity responsible for providing the fund, and the contribution to the national economy from nuclear R&D while considering the importance of securing stable nuclear R&D. As nuclear R&D is one of the inputs to the production of nuclear power, a certain portion of the benefits from nuclear power generation can be attributed to nuclear R&D. According to a Korean case study conducted in 2009 by the IAEA, the total contribution to GDP from nuclear power was estimated to be 2.1%. Based on this estimate, the multiplier effect of nuclear R&D investment in Korea was found to be over 4.0, indicating that it was much greater than the general financial multiplier, which typically ranges between 0.3 to 2.5. Since the benefits from nuclear R&D investment are not limited to KHNP or KEPCO but are widely dispersed, contributing significantly to the national economy, it is desirable for members of society to share the burden of raising the fund. From this perspective, it is suggested to increase the nuclear R&D fund to the extent of securing stable and sufficient investment in nuclear R&D through the electricity industry base fund, which is established at a constant rate of electricity rates paid by electricity consumers in the retail market.